Thinner and Cement

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Poochi
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:44 am

Thinner and Cement

Hi, I've been reading some tutorials about airbrushing and painting in general and was wondering what was the purpose of mixing paint with thinner? Is it just to make the paint easier to apply? What's the ratio of thinner and paint? Do the color charts that come with a model imply a thinner is used? I've also heard its been used to clean panel lines or some such?

Also, how does one apply cement on the seam lines - brush, dripper, or something else?

Thanks for the help.
Code name Lockon Stratos. The man who can snipe from across the stratosphere.
ulnhyrr
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Paint out of the bottle is usually too thick for applying on to parts. So thinning is necessary. The thinning ratios are different for hand brushing and for airbrushing. Since the paint needs to be fairly thin to spray through the airbrush decently (or it will clog). I do not hand paint so I cannot suggest the proper thinning ratio. For airbrushing I typically thin at a ratio of 3 parts thinner to 2 parts paint; but this changes due to inconsistent thicknesses of the paint. The resultant mixture is usually the consistence of milk (again, for airbrushing)

Yes, paint thinner can be used to clean up panel lines, but you need to read up on that particular technique, and I suggest you read that here There's information about the steps needed. If not followed directly, you risk running into a big mess.

For seam lines, read this: Applying glue for seam lines Most of these glues designed for fixing seamlines have a brush included. I have switched to using tamiya extra thin cement, which also has a brush for application.

And finally, there's a stickied thread: Model techniques and there you can find a torrent link for my power point based tutorial... granted it's only pictures, but some of the videos should help.
Poochi
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:44 am

Thanks ulnhyrr.

I've actually taken a glimpse at your site before from the link in the stickied thread, but I wanted to know more about why things are used as well as the correct techniques in using them.
Code name Lockon Stratos. The man who can snipe from across the stratosphere.
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PlasticFrog
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Sorry for being totally and utterly off-topic, but....



I got sigged??????? :shock:
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ulnhyrr
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Poochi wrote:Thanks ulnhyrr.

I've actually taken a glimpse at your site before from the link in the stickied thread, but I wanted to know more about why things are used as well as the correct techniques in using them.
Ahh ok sorry for misunderstanding. Well if you want more clarifications and reasons behind why some of the techniques are used by many modelers over other techniques, just ask away! I'll be more than happy to answer. Tetsujin over here is also a good source of information on techniques and such.
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